Duckfluff
by J.L. Montgomery
Summary: From the first day of the reaping, to her tragic end. This is the Hunger Games Trilogy, from Prim's perspective. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter I

**A/N: This is a retelling of the first book "The Hunger Games", from Prim's perspective. Although I'm keeping it pretty much the same as the book, I have to add some things in because... That's what fan fictions do! I know some things are described differently in this fan-fiction that in the actual book, but that's because Prim always had a brighter and more optimistic look on life than Katniss, even in the worst of times. No, she's not the bubbly Effie Trinket, but she manages to find light in any dark situation. Please leave constructive criticism, as it would really help me for the next chapters! Happy Hunger Games!**

The bright sunlight of morning breaks through the window, and blinds me. I jolt to cover my face, and sink back into the blankets. It's no use, the sun is too warm to go back to sleep, and I probably wouldn't have been able to sink back into my dreams anyway. It is reaping day after all.

I manage to slip out of the bed without waking my mother. The depression seems to have physically sunk down into her face. Not even a Capitol makeover could make her look like herself again. Still, she's beautiful. I kiss her forehead and brush her hair back with my fingers before going outside.

Buttercup follows at my heels. I know he's just a cat, but it seems like even he can sense what today holds. Brushing his bright yellow coat against my ankles, I reach down and scoop him into my arms.

"Your infections starting to go away," I say smiling. Half of one of his ears was missing when I found him years ago, but it had just recently been infected after he cut it on something. The seam, where we live, is not exactly sanitary, so this was bound to happen sooner or later.

From the distance of my front porch, I see my sister Katniss slipping away into the woods. I wanted to catch her before she left this morning, but somehow I knew she'd already be gone. I doubt she slept at all last night. Her name's going to be in the reaping ball at least twenty times. The odds are not in our favor.

It's obvious that Katniss takes after our father. Whenever she has something on her mind, she slips out into the woods. It's her sanctuary, her stronghold. It's also completely illegal territory, but she keeps on good terms with the law enforcement in District 12. By trading them what she kills, they keep their mouth shut.

Her friend Gale Hawthorne usually joins her, but I believe he uses a separate entrance to the woods, so I wouldn't see him enter the woods. He's got a lot on his plate too today, with forty-two slips of paper in the reaping ball with his name signed on it. Plus, he's got four other people to support. At least Katniss only has two.

With that thought brings chills to my spine. This is the first year that Primrose Everdeen will be written on one of those slips. I try not to think about it too much, because the more I do, the darker it gets.

The reaping isn't for another five hours, so I do have time to kill. I start out to milk my goat, Lady. She was a birthday present from Katniss one year. I used the milk from yesterday to make goat cheese as a reaping gift for her. I didn't check to see if it was gone, but I'm sure she took it this morning. It's what I always give her on reaping day.

Making dairy products from Lady and apothecary are my specialties. While Katniss was learning how to hunt from my father, I would pick up the things my mother did in her apothecary shop. She was talented back in her prime, but ever since my father died, she's been less like a mother, and more like a lifeless lump of bones and skin. Katniss is essentially my mother, and Gale the same with his family.

Both of our fathers died together in a mine explosion five years ago. I was seven, Katniss was twelve, and Gale was fourteen. This was when my mother checked out of reality. I believe Gale's mother took to the news easier than ours did, but Gale was still needed to support his three siblings and mother.

Katniss hunts for food in the woods, and I get what I can from Lady. Katniss also signs up for tesserae, a small supply of grains and oil for the family, but it just means her name goes into the reaping ball more each time she gets it. I tried to sign up for it this year, but she wouldn't let me. What she catches, we eat, or she trades it for other things we need at the Hob. I've never been there with her, and frankly I don't believe I wish to go. District 12 itself terrifies me at times, even at my own home. Venturing out to its darker parts is not on the top of my to-do list.

Milking Lady has become a quick and simple process, because I've had so much practice. Even after following me to her for five years, Buttercup still keeps a safe distance between him and Lady whenever we go.

"Prim!" I hear someone call my name, and it takes a few seconds to register who it is.

"Rory!" It's Gale's younger brother, Rory. He's only a year ahead of me in school, but we usually eat lunch together. He runs over to me and hands me a small sack filled with berries.

"Rory, oh my! There's so many of them. How did you even manage to fi—"

"Happy Hunger Games." He cuts me off, kisses me on the cheek, and runs back towards his home. I try and subdue the blushing until after he's turned around and a safe distance away, but I fear it was too late. I taste one of the berries, and share some with Buttercup and Lady. I'm not sure what kind it was, but it was delicious nonetheless. I smiled to myself, and began to walk back home.

By the time I got there, my mother is awake and preparing my attire.

"This was Katniss's first reaping dress," she says as she touches up a seam that was coming loose. "There, it's good as new. Now quick, take a bath." She has warm water waiting for me in the washroom. I put the goat milk on the table, but I slip the bag on berries under the bed. I'll save these for me and Katniss to have later tonight. When they're properly hidden, I slip to the bath.

Once I'm clean and back into the room, she slips the dress on me. It's too big for me, but she pins it until it stays. I'm trying to tuck it in the back when Katniss walks in the door with a bag of today's game and trades. She looks simply beautiful once she's bathed and slips into one of my mother's old blue apothecary dresses. I complimented her, and she hugged me.

"Prim, this is the first year that you're in the reaping ball, and your name is only in there once. You don't have anything to worry about." I smile at her to show I understand, but in the back of my mind, I still fear. Not necessarily for my fate, but for hers, Gale's, and Rory's.

She notices the puff of dress sticking out of the back of my dress, and she said I looked like a duckling. I quacked at her, and then we began to eat. She put fish and greens in a stew for dinner, and strawberries and fresh bakery bread she got today on the counter to go with it. For lunch, we drink goat milk, and eat the tessera grain bread. It's not very tasty, but it's not like any of us have the appetite to eat anyway. One o'clock seems to get here way too fast, and we make our way off to the square, where the reaping is held.

The square is normally happy, but even with the festive hunger games decorations, an invisible dark cloud hangs over the entire district. Several Peacekeepers guide me and Katniss away to the area where they keep the female reaping candidates.

"I love you Katniss." She replies the same before they push her towards the front of the crowd, with the eldest girls. I stand at the back alone. I see Rory on the other side of the square, standing with the males. His names in there seven times, because he took out tessera without Gale's knowledge earlier in the year. He paid for that decision later, I'm sure. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I pray that isn't chosen.

My mother stands with Ms. Hawthorne, and her other two children, Vick and Posy, against one of the shop walls. They seem to be exchanging light conversation, but nothing too deep. Their children could be fighting each other to the death in a matter of days. This is not the time to be making friends.

A shady group of men towards the back of the square are exchanging money, and it's obvious they're placing bets. The thought of people finding some slight sense of joy out of the hunger games, especially here in District 12, sickened me to my stomach.

Effie Trinket, the district twelve escort, stands on stage, looking bubbly as always in a spring green suit. The District Twelve Mayor, Mayor Undersee sits beside her. They both look around for Haymitch Abernathy, who should be filling the empty chair. He's the only living winner of the Hunger Games from District 12. He's usually drunk when he shows up to anything nowadays anyway.

Once they're tired of waiting, Mayor Undersee takes the stage, and reads the history of Panem, and how the Hunger Games came to be.

Every year, each of the twelve districts of Panem selects one teenage boy and girl to partake in the Hunger Games. The twenty-four of them are thrown into an arena, and they have to fight to the death. The last one standing comes back home, and lives a life of luxury. However, the richer districts have the better chances of winning, as they can train for this event their entire lives. We in the poorer districts have to struggle to survive as it is, let alone in the Hunger Games.

Around seventy-five years ago, the districts began to rebel against the Capitol, and District 13 was destroyed entirely in the fight. The Hunger Games is the Capitol's way of showing the nation that even the youngest of children were at the mercy of the Capitol.

I try my best to escape reality for this time, because the last thing I want to hear about right now is rebellion. Instead, I focus on single Mockingjay bird that's flying around the square. I glance up quickly, and all I see is Haymitch running onto the state, in an extremely drunken state.

I then began to wish how I was a simple Mockingjay. They have no real cares in the world. They're not pitted to the death every year because of the actions of their ancestors. They don't have to starve to death in exchange for a slightly less chance of being mauled to death by other birds their age. They are the living definition of freedom. I almost let out a sigh of happiness, until something grave registers with my ears.

Effie Trinket has just called my name.


	2. Chapter II

**A/N: I would like to thank everyone for reviewing and adding this story to your favorites and alerts. It's responses like this that motivate us to write more. I would also like to thank thir13enth for beta reading this chapter for me! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

Within a matter of seconds, the bubbly words settle into my head. My first instinct is to run, and although I've never seen it happen myself, I can't imagine it ends well. I have no choice but to start walking, although every muscle in my body seems to pull against me. My hands want to clasp themselves over my eyes so the world doesn't see me on the verge of crying, but they stay still at my sides. My steps are slow, but no one expects me to rush on there I suppose. I'm scared to even blink, because the silence is so intimidating, any slight motion could probably be heard by the entire arena.

The steps finally reach my feet and I push my shaking body up onto the first elevation. I almost manage to lift my other foot up before I hear that all too familiar voice from the crowd.

"Prim!" Katniss shrieks. It's a mixture of terror and tears that make her voice tremble as she speaks. As I turn around, I see her running for me, but a pair of peacekeepers initially stop her.

"Prim!" Her voice is much more stiff and stern this time. "I volunteer!" The peacekeepers let go of her as she makes one more step forward, as to formally address to the crowd. "I volunteer as tribute."

You can easy tell there's some confusion from the stage, as they can't seem to remember the protocol for volunteers. I go directly for Katniss's legs, but she pushes me behind me as she begins to mount the stage. The mayor finally tells her to come on stage, and that's when I went hysterical. My arms wrap around her body, as if my small body is supposed to stop my powerful sister from going anywhere. She scolds me harshly to stop, but there's still the hint in the back of her throat that shows she's on the verge of tears.

I manage to scream one last time before Gale comes behind me and sweeps me up in his arms. I hit him in the back as hard as I can for him to drop me, but he seems not to notice. A peacekeeper directs Gale to a back entrance to the Justice Building, and he takes me in there, with my mother following shortly behind.

Gale tries to calm me down by brushing my hair back against my head, but it doesn't help. I collapse on the couch made of some type of fine material, and continue my own sorrowful process. I've subsided from the screaming, but my eyes are nothing but open floodgates right now. _It should have been me. It WAS me. I was the chosen tribute, not Katniss. _Guilt begins to flush my face. Couldn't I have refused her volunteer or something of that nature? If one of us is going to die, it might as well have been me. At least Katniss has a future.

Another peacekeeper walks into the room and tells us that we can come speak to Katniss now. I jump up and follow the man, and after a few turns, he points us directly to the end of the hall, where Katniss sits behind the closed door. No one has to tell me to enter, as I've already made my way into the room and Katniss's lap.

With my head on her shoulder, and her arms around me, I cry silently into her dress. Our mother came up next, and wrapped both of us in her arms. This is easily the most emotional interaction she's had with us in years. After a few minutes of sitting in silence, she begins to tell us of how we'll get by, and what to do to survive. I sincerely hope my mother is hanging onto every word, because I'm not listening to a word she's saying. I'm listening to her voice. Her voice my favorite part about her, because it's what seems to be the solution to any problem. It is the only thing that can truly comfort me.

It isn't long however, before her words begin to turn cold.

"You can't leave again."

"I know. I won't," my mother replied. "I couldn't help—"

"Well, you have to help it this time. You can't clock out and leave Prim on her own. There's no me now to keep you both alive. It doesn't matter what happens. Whatever you see on the screen. You have to promise me you'll fight through it!"

These words are when the entire situation finally hits me. Not only do we have to send Katniss off to fight for her life, but we have to watch the entire thing. We have to watch the games, and know that far off somewhere, there are twenty-three other families in the same situation as us. Although I'm sure we're one of the most traumatized families out of all of them, I'm definitely not going to label us out of the most unlucky. Instead of thinking about it anymore, I just dig my face into Katniss's arm so I won't hear anything else they say. I just want the world to stop moving so I can sit and process everything.

I try to speak in attempt to make Katniss's attention divert from my mother's faults. "I'll be alright Katniss." The initial crack in my voice has only gotten louder, and now the tears are flowing again. "But you have to take care, too. You're so fast and brave. Maybe you can win. You can win, Katniss. You have to try for me? Promise you'll try."

"I swear it, Prim."

The Peacekeeper shows back up at the door to escort us out of the room. I don't even try to hold Katniss down this time, as I think the initial shock is beginning to finally fade away. I hug her one last time, and tell her how much I love her before the man drags us out of the room. She tells us the same as the door shuts behind us.

As we're walking out of the building, another man starts to enter behind us. It takes me a minute to figure out who he is, and then it hits me; Mr. Mellark. I've sold him some goat milk on occasion, and he even gave me a cookie one time when I visited his shop on my birthday.

"Hello Primrose," he speaks to me grimly, and shuts the door behind him. I begin to wonder why he wanted to speak to Katniss, but I realize that is the last thing that should be on my mind at the moment.

My mother asks me if I want to watch the cars leave the district, but I tell her no. I'd rather leave now, so I can try and convince myself she's just going to stay in that room for the next month, instead of going to fight for her life. We wait near the entrance for Gale with his mother and children. Once he's back, we walk back to the Seam in silence. I don't even speak to Rory, and I think he's smart enough to know that this is not the time for us to talk.

Once we're home, my mother pours two bowls of the stew Katniss was making for us. Instead of having the bakery bread and cheese to go with it, she stores that away for a later day. Food is definitely going to be scarcer than it already is around here now, so I can respect her decision. Instead, we have tessera bread with the meal. Since I ate so little for lunch, I actually manage to wolf this meal down. My mom offers me another bowl, but I tell her we should save it.

Although the sun doesn't go down in the summer for another two hours, I go ahead to bed. My mother sits in the living room and watches the replays of today's reapings. We generally have little to no electricity here in District Twelve, but during the time of the Games, it's always running. From the crack in my door, I can see the television set.

Districts one and two have tributes that look completely terrifying, and I'm almost assured they'll become allies. The strongest ones always do. They're called the "careers." The boy from District Ten with a crippled foot makes me sad to see, and I wish someone had volunteered for him. In District Eleven, there's a twelve-year-old girl who's reaped. Her beautiful brown skin is a trademark from her district. As much as I want Katniss to win the games, I sincerely hope she doesn't have to kill this poor girl.

Then there's district twelve. I realize how completely terrified I looked when they called my name, and how much I've embarrassed myself when Katniss volunteered. I take that back. I didn't embarrass myself in District Twelve at all. It's only in the Captiol where they may be looking at my actions and laughing. The richest of them all tend to be those most vain.

Finally, I get to see the male tribute for our district. I don't recognize him when he walks up, but as my mother turns the volume up, I hear Effie Trinket's trilling voice loud and clear.

"Our District Twelve tributes, Peeta Mellark, and Katniss Everdeen."

That's the baker's son.


	3. Chapter III

**A/N: Sorry for taking so long to get chapter three up! I'm going to start working on Chapter four as soon as this gets posted, so that should be up by the weekend at the latest. Who saw the movie? I've seen it twice, and I already know waiting for the DVD is going to be hell. If you haven't seen it yet, you need to go now!**

The darkness in my eyes fades into a lush forest. A knife positions itself firmly in my hand's grip, pointing in the direction I'm heading. I only manage to take a few steps before someone grabs my shoulder and flips me to the ground. A large girl, at least seventeen years old, dances her sword across my face as she carves her initials into my flesh. The pain finally begins to sink in when my body jolts up.

I'm not quite sure how I managed to fall asleep in the first place. I try my best to prevent myself from screaming. I'm shocked that my mother isn't by my side, and it makes me begin to question if she's going to be of much use from now on.

Instead of trying to sleep, I jump down from the bed and grab a handful of berries from underneath. After dropping them into my pocket, I slip on Katniss's hunting jacket and go outside. The entire thing is too big for me, and the sleeves drag the ground as I walked, but it'sexactly what I need. Buttercup weakly punches my ankles, to show me he's with me.

Once I get to the Hawthorne house, I walk to the back, where the children's rooms are. I can only assume it's about four in the morning right now, so waking the entire house up is not my goal. As I pass Hazelle's room, I can see through the window that she has Posy curled tightly in her arms. Even though she's only four, I'm sure she was just as worried for Gale and Rory as I was for myself and Katniss yesterday.

It doesn't take long before I'm outside the window of the boy's bedroom. You can tell that Gale usually sleeps with Rory because Rory's pushed over to one side of the bed, while Vick manages to take up the whole bed singlehandedly. There is nobody beside Rory though, which means Gale's already out hunting for the day. I try and knock as lightly as I can on the window without waking Vick up. After a few knocks, I'm slightly assured that a Capitol parade couldn't wake him up. Eventually, Rory's eyes open.

He gives me some sort of hand signal that I couldn't make out in the dark, and then leaves the room. It's only a minute before he's beside me. Somehow he's already dressed in his school uniform, a typical black shirt and khaki shorts. It's too hot for pants right now, even though that's technically what we're required to wear. During the time of the games, the teacher's are more lenient on us. Since he's dressed for school, he must plan on us going off somewhere until school time.

"Well here, come with me. I need to get dressed too." He follows me, and scratches Buttercup's ear as they walk. Usually Buttercup is less than eager for foreign hands to touch him, but maybe he could see how important Rory is to me.

Once we're home, I slip into the same thing Rory's wearing. I had enough of frilly dresses for one day, and now I just want to be comfortable. I refill my pocket with berries, and meet him back outside. We walk towards the meadow, where Katniss and Gale always find their entrance to the woods. There are beautiful flowers everywhere, and it's the perfect place to watch the sunrise.

We both find a nice spot in the grass and have a seat. We're surrounded by primrose flowers, the beautiful plant for which I was named. It must around five-thirty now, because the sun is beginning to rise over the trees in the distance. School doesn't start until eight, so we have a good hour to be alone. Even Buttercup seems to have stayed at home this time. I pull the berries out of my pocket, and hold them out to Rory.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me!" He jumps up and grabs a small loaf of bakery bread out of his pocket.

"No way! How'd you get thi—," and almost just like last time, he cuts me off with a kiss. This one feels less forced than the last one. I'm still not completely sure on how I want to process all of this, so once he lets go, I finish the word I was trying to say before.

"Don't worry about it. Let's just enjoy the moment we're in now." Rory truly is the younger version of Gale. He has a way to say exactly what needs to be said. He takes his strong hands, and turns some of the berries into jam. I split the bread in half and open them, as he spreads the sweet brew on the fresh bread. He must've gotten it last night, because it's still fresh, but not warm. The berry paste is delicious, and it's the best breakfast I've had in weeks.

The sun seems to rise faster than it should, but nonetheless, I'm sure it's six-thirty by now. We both get up, and make our way to the school grounds. It's an hour walk from the meadow, but we still manage to get there early. With a half hour left to spare, I make sure Rory doesn't leave my side.

As we walk through the field in front of the building, I can see everyone looking at me, and I hear their faint whispers.

_Look at her._

_Poor thing._

_I hope she doesn't think Katniss is coming back._

_She'll be dead in a week._

It's amazing how some people can be sympathetic, and others can be completely heartless. My brain is trying to make myself sick, so I'll have an excuse to go home. But, no, I can't go home. It would just make me look weaker than I already am. I clench my fists, and walk into the doorway at school. I try and take as long as long as I can before letting go of Rory's hand. He heads off in the other direction to his room, and I head to mine. It'll be four hours before I can see him again, and even then only for the ten minutes where our lunches coincide. I'll treasure those ten minutes once they get here.

Before I can get to my room, Madge Undersee stops me in the hallway. I know that her and my sister generally group together whenever it's required, because neither one of them seem to have other friends in their year.

"Prim!" She calls. Her voice is positive, but there's a hint of sorrow buried deep within. "Hey, Prim." She can tell immediately that I don't have much to say. "My father wanted to invite you and your mother over for dinner tonight, and we can watch the parade together, if you'd be interested."

"Will anyone else be joining us?" I'm questioning for the Mellarks. The last thing I want at the moment is to have to spend time with the family of a boy who will more than likely die in the next three weeks.

"Nope, just the five of us." Her smile is genuine, and I can tell she truly wants us to come.

"I'll see what I can do." I smiled back at her before we went our separate ways, but she could tell it had  
>no backbone.<p>

**A/N: I know it ended in an awkward place, but I have a really large section next that all needs to fit into one chapter, so I don't want it to be any longer than necessary.**


	4. Chapter IV

**A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay, but I still tried to get a chapter out as fast as possible. I'm also working on some Portal fan fictions, and possibly some other fandoms in the near future. If you're interested in any of that, be sure to add me to your Author's Watch list so you can be notified when that arises. But if you're just here for this story, I hope you enjoy this new chapter! **

My first day back in school wasn't nearly as traumatic as I had expected. It seemed that only the older students were the horrid beasts and those my age were more understanding. My Panem History teacher even bought me a cheese bun from the Mellark's Bakery for lunch. Of course it can't compensate for what my family's preparing to deal with, but the gesture is heart-warming. I offer Rory part of it but he doesn't take it.

Out of his lunch bag, he pulls out a freshly cooked rabbit. The sight of it makes me cringe, and I wish I had some of my mother's medicines to try and bring it back to life. Not that it would do any good, of course. It's already been skinned and cleaned.

"Where'd you get that?"

"Shot it," he said triumphantly.

"You _shot _it? With what Rory _E. _Hawthorne?"

"Shhhhhhh," he silences her while flailing his arms around, as to drift the words away from their seats. "You _know _I hate my middle name." He said, taking an oversized meaty bite out of its flesh. "I shot it with one of Katniss's bows in the woods. Gale was trying to show me how to use them. He's heading down to the mines next week."

The thought of Rory using my sister's bows makes me mad, for reasons I don't even understand. They weren't doing us any good; sitting in Katniss's hiding spots throughout the woods. Still, I would have rather them be left to mourn alone.

The words shock me as they leave his lips, but deep down I'm not surprised. It's a shame that anyone has to work there, but I feel especially sorry for him. I can't imagine having to go back to the place where my father died, every day, just to support my family.

The bell rings to dismiss Rory from lunch, and I'm left to my own self for ten minutes or so. I try process all the information he's given to me, but it's just too much for me right now. Instead of picking flowers or playing kickball with the other girls, I just go back to my classroom and finish my cheese bun in silence.

~~~  
>Rory walks me straight home from school at four. Dinner at Madge's doesn't start until seven, so I have an hour or so of time left to kill after traveling. He gives me another quick kiss on the cheek before running off to his own home.<p>

My mother is less than enthusiastic about visiting the Undersee residence for dinner, but she agrees anyway. This will most certainly be the last _real _meal we have, and I think she realizes it.

The Undersees are more than welcoming once we get there. Madge greets us at the door, and shows us down to the dining room. Although it can't even stand in the shadow of the Capitol's glory, it is certainly the nicest building I've ever visited.

The house is two stories, with a spiraling snow white staircase connecting the two. The apricot colored walls are currently covered in giant Hunger Games propaganda posters, urging people to sponsor tributes. These posters should be out in the market district, not gathering dust in this house. The rest of the district needs to be motivated into sponsoring my sister, not just the Mayor's visitors! I quickly shake the idea from my head, as this is not the night for such thoughts.

As if they sense me judging certain aspects of their home, the mayor and his wife invite my mother for a quick chat over tea, and leave me and Madge to our own devices.

"Come on up to my room, Prim." Her deep blue eyes seem to smile directly into mine before she turns around and guides me to her room. Her long, flowing black hair bounces with every step. Overall she reminds me of a more feminine version of Katniss. I can't decide if I truly want to trust Madge or not, and I don't plan on letting her any closer to me emotionally than I have to. Nonetheless, I follow her every step.

Madge's room alone is as big as our entire house. The walls are painted a classical pink color that could be just as easily mistaken for white. Small flocks of sky-blue colored mockingjays are scattered across the walls. This most certainly had to be done by a person with true artistic genius. Maybe it was one of the District Twelve stylists for the Hunger Games. I start to ask her when she turns and hands me a small box wrapped in beautiful gift paper that only the richest can afford here.

"What is this?" My eyes grow wide with anticipation, but I'm actually terrified to open it.

"This," she takes a decently long pause. "This is a gift from me to your family. I don't want you to open it until after this year's Games are over. Just slip it into your pocket for now." I have next to no time to actually process this information. On top of it all, Madge gestures with her hands to hurry up because Mrs. Undersee is nearing the door.

"_Ohh girls, dinner is ready_." Her voice trills similarly to Effie Trinket's, but she lacks the infamous Capitol accent. I can hear Katniss mocking them now. _And may the odds be __**ever **__in your favor._

My mother looks slightly happier than she did when we arrived, and this makes me curious as to what exactly their conversation was about. This dinner surely is extravagant. The family has roasted a rather large hen, and smothered it in some sort of orange sauce. Vegetables of all variety are also scattered in multi-colored bowls across the table. I fill a good portion of my plate alone with a medley of fruit and sweet sauce.

I notice that my mother is more careful about what she eats. She has a good right to fear that this rich and delicious food might actually be hazardous to us, since we're used to such lighter meals, but I savor the moment while I can. Mrs. Undersee encourages her several times to try the sweet fruit and sauce, and I can't help but agree with her on the notion.

Once we're finally done with dinner, it's nearing eight o'clock, when the Tribute Parade is set to begin. We migrate to the family room, where the television is already on, and displaying a countdown clock until the parade's commencement. We chat lightly, mostly about what stylists have done previous years with our district.

"I'm not sure quite what to expect this year," Mayor Undersee says. "There's a new District Twelve stylist this year. His name's Cinna, and he seems to be quite the original."

_Hopefully he can make Katniss and Peeta original too_, I think. The last thing we need is for them to blend into the back of the parade like every other year.

"Oh yes," Madge is suddenly reminded of something. "Would you two join us again tomorrow night for the interviews? We're also inviting the Mellarks, so it'll be a nice occasion!"

My mind is torn as to whether I want to have dinner with the Mellarks. The father is a good customer of mine for goat milk, yes, but we have two members of our family who will be fighting to the death in a matter of days. I don't think that socializing is something our two parties should be doing at the moment. Nonetheless, my mother agrees to return tomorrow night. I think she's secretly using this opportunity to cheat more off of the Undersee's, and I know that if Katniss doesn't come back home, we surely will starve to death. The last thing my mother plans on doing is trying to find ways to make money.

Almost in perfect time to take my mind off of the thought, the parade starts. After a quick introduction from the always perky Caesar Flickerman, the chariots begin to carry each of the twelve districts down the strip. Flowers and all kinds of gifts are launched at them from the freakishly-hideous members of the crowd. It's obvious that _they're _from the Capitol.

Caesar comments on each of the districts as they circle into a large group near the end. District Twelve is always the last to receive a comment, but for some reason, Caesar completely skips nine, ten, and eleven in surprise for our own District Twelve.

From the best I can see, it appears that Katniss and Peeta are on fire.

"Well I'll be _damned,"_ Mayor Undersee said with a playful laugh. "My my, she certainly_ is _the girl on fire, isn't she?" That's when I realize that their costumes represent the pieces of burning coal that keep our district aloft. Apart of the clothing herself, Katniss's face and hair looks as beautiful as I've ever seen. I know that the two have certainly made the proper impression tonight.

After closing lines with the Undersee's me and my mother walked back home. Once we got there, I curled into bed and ate a few of the berries Rory had given me.

"_Come on Katniss,"_ I speak to myself. _"The Girl on Fire must burn brightest."_

Unlike previous nights, where previous nightmares keep me awake for hours before finally falling asleep, I drift peacefully into my own sublime unconsciousness tonight.

**A/N: As always, please leave criticism! Every comment helps me when writing a new chapter. And may the odds be _ever _in your favor!**


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